Up for the Challenge

 Over the Christmas holidays I generally bake anywhere from 8-12 varieties of cookies to give to family and friends. Well, I have one friend that is allergic to gluten, nuts, and dairy and could never eat them. I felt bad giving her cookies she could not eat but I also didn't want to leave her out and not give her anything while everyone else got cookies. So, this year I decided to try and make a cookie that she could eat that didn't suck. I am happy to say that they came out WAY better than expected and she claimed them to be "dangerously good". BIG win! Now I came up with the recipe on the fly and hope I remember everything that I did. I had been baking cookies all day and was in the cookie groove so I went by eye and when the dough looked right I baked them up and hoped for the best. I thought I had written down what I did, but if I did so, I can't find the notes anymore. But, seeing as will likely make these again next year I don't want to forget and so I am documenting it here for eternity.

Allergy Free Blueberry Lemon Cookies

3/4 C vegetable shortening
1/2 C granulated sugar
1/4 c brown sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla
1 C brown rice flour
1/2 C coconut flour
1 tsp ground chia seeds
1 tsp ground psyllium husk
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
Juice and zest of 1 lemon
1/2 cup dried blueberries

In a stand mixer, beat together shortening and sugars until smooth

Add eggs and vanilla

Add remaining ingredients EXCEPT blueberries

Once the dry ingredients and lemon juice/zest are incorporated, test the texture of the dough. If too dry and crumbly add more shortening, if sticky add more rice flour. The dough should be easy to handle without being too stiff. If you are not intimidated by raw egg, give the dough a taste to make sure the lemon flavor shines through and the dough is sweet enough.  If the texture and taste are OK, add blueberries.

 Scoop into a cookie sheet and flatten with the back of a fork (like we do for peanut butter cookies). I made big cookies and used my meatball scoop. Bake at 325F for 10-12 minutes or until set. Let cool before handling. The finished cookies will be delicate as there is no gluten to hold them together but will firm up a bit upon cooling.